Better Supervision better Teaching

This handbook is designed for those involved in teacher education and the supervision of practical teaching. It will be useful for university tutors on teacher education programmes and mentors in schools, as well as senior staff in schools who are involved in appraisal and evaluation.

Contents

List of Figures and Tables

About the Authors

Foreword

This handbook makes, to say the least, a timely contribution to the rapidly changing world of initial teacher education. It has been created by a team of highly experienced supervisors at a time when more and more classroom teachers are working in a supervisory role with trainees on teaching practice. ...

Preface

'Supervisors have always held sharp differences of opinion about ... the role of the supervisor:' With this quote we begin Chapter 1 of a handbook about teaching practice supervisory conferencing for supervisors. We were involved in a larger group looking at practice. ...

Acknowledgements

Part A: The Role and Context of Supervisory Conferencing

Conducting successful supervisory conferences before and after lesson observations demands particular conceptual understanding of the task and of practical skills in conferencing. What goes on in supervisory conferences during teaching practice (or practicum) in schools cannot be divorced from messages being transmitted in education theory and methods classes (and vice versa). ...

1. Towards Understanding the Supervision Process

At the outset, it must be emphasized that supervision lies at the heart of most initial teacher education programmes. Supervision is an integral part of the teaching practice or teaching practicum undertaken in schools by part-time and full-time students seeking professional initial teaching qualifications. ...

2. Frameworks for Supervision

We have already emphasized that supervision is a systematic, purposeful activity. It is one in which we as supervisors engage in a learning process in which we and our student teachers learn together. Together with the student teachers, we change our professional knowledge, attitudes and skills. ...

3. Discussion and Supervisory Conferences

'Supervisory conference' refers to what takes place before or after a lesson is observed by a supervisor or mentor. The term expresses the context. Discussion, which takes place during the conference, puts the focus on the process. ...

4. The Observation Record

This chapter considers the written record of lesson observations the notes that the supervisor makes during and/or after the lesson and gives to the student teacher
We shall first consider students' views of this record, then look at the structure of the forms used by supervisors, then finally we shall consider the nature and language of supervisors' comments in the record...

5. Supervision When and Where

Whereas for part-time student teachers the teaching practice cannot be separated from their normal employment, for full-time students the timing of the teaching practice within a course is of considerable importance. ...

6. The Language of Supervisory Discussion

Our choice of language affects the way our meaning is perceived and the way communication develops.
There are, of course, other factors like the positions and relationships (roles) of the people involved (participants), the context in which the language is used (setting), etc. ...

Part B: Difficult Areas for Discussion

In this part of the handbook, we look at the topics that university supervisors and/or student teachers might find difficult to discuss during supervisory conferences. The QUEST Project identified thirty-three possible topics that might raise problems. ...

7. Discussing Possible Failure

Both supervisors and student teacher s agree d that the question of possible failure was one of the two most difficult of all to discuss. In one sense, the reason was obvious and was succinctly put by this student teacher: ...

8. Discussing a Lack of Subject Knowledge

Most student teachers on initial postgraduate teacher education programmes have recently graduated in their chosen subject area and it is this that they will teach. The same is true for many B.Ed. degrees where some, if not all, non-education elements precede courses in pedagogy and teaching practice. ...

9. Discussing a Lack of Language Fluency

This topic refers to the language of instruction, which in Hong Kong, at the time of the interviews, was still English in most secondary schools for most subjects. However, the supervisors and student teachers already knew that government policy would soon begin to phase in Chinese language of instruction for the majority of schools. ...

10. Discussing Dress and Appearance

The way that people dress is a highly personal matter and it is no different in the case of a student teacher. To some people, dress strikes at the heart of their individuality and their right to choose. ...

11. Discussing Enthusiasm, Commitment and General Attitude

Comments about enthusiasm and commitment are commonplace in discussions among supervisors. Enthusiasm and commitment are not synonymous terms and yet, whatever one's responses to the questions on the right, there surely exists some form of relationship and interplay between the two concepts. ...

12. Discussing a Lack of Presence in the Classroom

In many ways, talking about whether or not one has the ability to establish a presence in the classroom is like the issue of dress. As with dress, presence is a highly personal issue and indeed is strongly linked to personality itself. ...

13. Discussing a Lack of a Supportive Attitude

What does it mean by having a supportive attitude towards one's pupils? There is clearly no single identifiable characteristic that defines this feature. However, perhaps it is possible to describe a combination of characteristics that we can agree should be in evidence. ...

Part C: Summing-up

The purpose of this third part to the handbook is to bring together the various opinions that have been expressed in different context s about effective ways to conduct pre- and post-lesson observation conferences. At the end of most chapters, we have provided an Action Checklist. ...

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